Stanislaus County drops in auto theft rankings. How does new number stack up?
Auto theft is up nationwide, with California leading the country. For the first time in more than a decade, though, Stanislaus County did not make the list of the top 10 metropolitan areas where cars are stolen.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) each year ranks the nation’s cities by auto thefts per 100,000 residents. Stanislaus County never got below a ranking of seven from 2007 (the oldest date for which the bureau is providing data) to 2019. It ranked No. 1 in four of those years and No. 2 in three years.
Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said department numbers show the area had been in the top 10 since at least 2002.
But in 2020, Stanislaus County dropped to the 18th spot, part of a three-year trend that has seen a 19.5% decrease in the crime since 2018, according to the California Highway Patrol.
So far this year, vehicle thefts in Stanislaus County are on pace to continue the downward trend, according to CHP Officer Tom Olsen.
Modesto alone is down 19% for auto thefts compared to 2020, which Bear sees as a sign that increased efforts to curb the problem have worked.
“It’s a pretty big deal to us,” Bear said. “We’re not saying that’s great, but it’s definitely going in the right direction.”
Authorities credit efforts by agencies participating in the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force and by agencies no longer on the task force.
The Modesto Police Department left the task force in 2018 due to budget restraints, but its property crime detectives participate in weekly briefings to share information about auto theft trends, hot spots and suspects.
The task force’s sergeant said an auto theft crew of juveniles was “wreaking havoc” in Modesto’s airport neighborhood for more than two months, sometimes stealing up to three vehicles in a night. He said collaboration between the task force and Modesto police detectives led to five arrests.
The Modesto Police Department also launched an education campaign in 2019 after an analysis found that 22% of the auto thefts the year prior were preventable. Drivers either left their keys or fobs in their vehicles, had keys that were stolen — like being swiped from a purse sitting in a shopping cart — or otherwise were unaccounted for, a trend both in Modesto and nationwide according to the NICB.
The department posted fliers and posters around schools and businesses throughout the community and is using traffic signs to help spread messages, including some warning people not to leave valuables in their vehicles, which can encourage personal item and auto theft, Bear said. It also provides free anti-theft steering wheel locks to people who drive car models with the highest rates of theft.
Bear said Honda Accords and Civics and Chevrolet trucks and SUVs are the most commonly stolen vehicles in the Stanislaus County area.
Patrol officers and support staff are putting more resources into high-theft areas, which change over time, and speaking about the issue during presentations at schools and neighborhood watch meetings. And social media was used to promote the “9 p.m. Routine,” a program designed to remind people to make sure their vehicles are locked up before going to sleep.
Bear said it’s the combination of department measures and community action that has helped to deter auto theft in Stanislaus County.
The education programs have helped make people aware of the issue and how important it is to keep their cars locked and keys safe.
Features in new cars also make them more difficult to steal or easier to recover when stolen, such as improvements in anti-theft technology and services like OnStar that can help pinpoint a vehicle’s location.
“There’s just so many layers of things that are occurring,” Bear said.
In addition to vehicle thefts, law enforcement is also working to cub other auto problems including a spike in catalytic converter thefts.
Catalytic converters, which “convert the environmentally hazardous exhaust emitted by an engine into less harmful gasses,” are made with expensive metals including platinum, palladium and rhodium that are lucrative to sell.
The NICB reported in March that catalytic converter theft has skyrocketed nationwide since the beginning of the pandemic, going from an average of 282 thefts per month in 2019 to 1,203 average thefts per month in 2020. California is the top state for this crime, according to the report.
Modesto police said there have been 343 catalytic converter thefts this year through the end of September, compared to a total of 143 during 2020.
Some muffler shops in the area are engraving identifying information into catalytic converters to make thefts more traceable. Seeing that a converter is marked can also deter people from taking it in the first place, Bear said.
MPD tips to prevent auto theft
- Remove valuables and other items that someone may want to steal, such as backpacks or purses
- Don’t leave your car running unattended, even just to “warm up” in the colder months
- Lock your car when you get out of it
Take your keys
Park in a well-lit area
